That python swallowed a balloon look after menopause?

[TofuTuesday]

Honestly it’s so depressing, I’m still a size 10-12 but my entire body shape has changed. Just a slump from my boobs like an isosceles triangle into my stomach and then teeny legs at the bottom.
everything I wear I look so chunky from the side. No definition or differentiation between waist, boobs etc

Yes this! It’s so intimidating and stressful knowing someone is waiting to use it and you’re still a beginner etc .

I’m doing yoga and I’m quite active. I don’t want to lose weight because bits of me are really slim and I worry it will make me look worse. It’s really my thickened waist and hips and the slope from boobs to belly.

I stare back, and carry on lifting my feeble weights. Have had a resting bitch face from birth, which has now slid into murderous psycho bitch face.

I’ve had the beachball-between-the pelvis thing since having my gallbladder out years ago (it happened literally overnight - I even asked the surgeon if he’d left air in there!).
I went from being an hourglass with a little baby bulge to (relatively) a Humpty Dumpty hating my side view.
But I find a decent bra helps avoid the boob/stomach slope; the bra I’m wearing now is new from Bravissimo and I feel really quite perky in it - no mean feat for my 32GGSs!
I’ve never really made a concerted effort to address it though; I’ve been pretty sporadic with exercise. I suspect if I were to lose the half a stone I’m always thinking it would be good to drop, I’d be the same basic shape, just thinner.
I know you can’t lose weight in focussed areas but I’ve been working more consistently strength and balance lately and hoping maybe the general toning might improve things.

Slope from boobs to belly and the tyre at the bottom. I’m with you on this!!!

I applaud your descriptions!

But yes, I’m with you. My entire body fat / boobs appears to have melted into my middle. I watch what I eat and go to the gym. But working out only builds muscle on my butt, under the flab, so I also have two wobbly bowling balls behind me as well as a ‘swallowed a football’ tummy up front.

My BMI is healthy. But clothes don’t fit and I can’t bear to see my naked reflection in a mirror.

I watched my mum diet in midlife to stay petite, but she now has osteoporosis and has broken several bones. My choice seems to be diet = slim and frail, or healthy = a seal on stilts.

My DH commented that my weight had 'redistributed' the other day and I was horrified to realise that he meant it had gone to my belly and arse! I mean, I knew this, because my size 6 trousers and jeans are just a memory from last summer and 8s are getting tight!

But, they remain baggy on my thighs and I look like an orange that a little kid has poked toothpicks into to represent limbs.

Ugh. The only way I see out of this is carb and calorie restriction or just accept I'm a ball, now. Sympathise with you, OP!!!!

Is there a women only gym in your area? I have to drive ten miles to mine, but I have to drive ten miles to any gym.

Ladies, do not cede gym ground to men!
I am a 54 year old brown woman in a gym. This is a rare sight. But I do not care.

We should have a list of apt descriptions. An orange & toothpicks made me laugh!

I think our diet does have to change as we get older. We need to eat less in total but a much higher proportion of protein.

I would ignore yoga as a form of exercise. We need to walk more and lift heavy weights as we age. I have a flat stomach and I need to-
avoid lactose and gluten. I drink Arla lactose free milk and don’t eat bread, pasta etc. I have an underactive thyroid so this really helps.
Eat around 120g protein daily.
lift weights 4 times a week. I follow Caroline Girvan online and work out with weights at home. It’s excellent.
Try and walk 7-10000 steps daily.
Drink very little alcohol.
Boring I know but I feel great.

Regularly lift nt progressively heavier weights has made such a huge difference to my body shape.

I’m in my 50s. I cut out as much sugar as possible. My 2 meals a day have to contain protein. And I do body pump twice a week and run. Keeps me in shape. I don’t count calories at all and eat out a fair bit

I’ve developed this look since having my gallbladder out a couple of years ago. Thought it was gas from op for a while but I’ve put on half a stone and can’t get it off, but it’s the upper tum bit that’s so annoying and I am by no means busty. I’ve looked it up and post gallbladder gain is a medical thing but I can’t find any simple advice on how to lose it. It’s something to do with bile and liver function but the suggestions are extremely hard to follow day to day.

I’ve just finished menopause and I don’t have a belly at all. Didn’t have anything like that. I eat no carbs and exercise

Erm congratulations 😂

@TofuTuesdayneither did I immediately after menopause (which of course is usually only acknowledged in hindsight). 12 years later, there it is: body shape of a barrage balloon, where used to be an hourglass. I eat low carb and exercise. I know there are abdominal muscles underneath.

Sorry, referenced the wrong poster 🤦🏽‍♀️! Comment for @UniquePinkSwan

I've never had a big belly even when I was a lot heavier, though I've never had thin legs. I've hardly ever had a time in my life when I haven't exercised and I've almost always done weights and cardio of one kind or another since the age of 18 and I'm 50 now. I've done yoga regularly for ten years also. While I'm definitely more of a mesomorph body type I think good muscle tone and varied exercise definitely helps any body type.

I do eat carbs. Low-ish but definitely some.

Yep I hear you. Same here.

Used to be slim but curvy but now just look like a fricking potato.

Women like J-Lo, Tess Daly, Amanda Holden and Kylie Minogue should be destroyed. 🙃😜

I don’t think we can compare ourselves to celebs. I reckon when they’re hungry, they get an hour long massage until it passes. And then one later. Focus on your abs? I say this in my 50s after a few caesareans.

I'm post menopausal and the same shape and weight (size 10/12 and I'm tall) as I was before it. I don't go to the gym or watch what I eat but I am on HRT. I think that's the answer.

I just have this weird doughy rubbery belly area now. I’ve had 3 huge pregnancies, 2 c sections, I’ve always had an apron belly and I have lots of stretch marks, but since being on HRT I feel like the whole area has just thickened out. I can’t breathe in and look slim anymore. My weight is pretty much the same, it’s just this big doughy area in my mid section. Probably exacerbated by gluten, sugar, alcohol, cortisol, etc etc

Are you me? This is exactly my situation! I know that I need to lose a stone and will start this week when I return from holidays with the aim of achieving it by Xmas. I train hard with big weights but know that I will only drop fat on 1200 calories per day which will impact my weightlifting. I have decided that I want to be slim again more than I want to improve my 1RM.